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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [239r] (480/1814)
The record is made up of 2 volumes with inserts (898 folios). It was created in 1892-1924. It was written in English, Urdu and German. The original is part of the British Library: India Office The department of the British Government to which the Government of India reported between 1858 and 1947. The successor to the Court of Directors. Records and Private Papers Documents collected in a private capacity. .
Transcription
This transcription is created automatically. It may contain errors.
FROM MESHED TO TEHERAN
285
Accordingly, tliey announced that the hour for repose had arrived,
and bowed themselves out. For my part, I slew the sheep and had
a capital leg of mutton for dinner.
Shahrud is rather more than the halfway stage between Meshed
and Teheran, but it serves to divide the journey into two portions,
of which it is difficult to determine which is the less
section of attractive. There is a curious identity between their
journey respective features: for, just as the Meshed-Shahrud sec
tion presents two cities of ancient fame, Nishapur and Sebzewar,
so the Shahrud-Teheran section displays Damghan and Semnan ;
and, just as the only structures worthy of observation in the first
section are the minarets and towers of Sebzewar and Bostam, so,
in the second, we must be content with the analogous monuments
of Damghan and Semnan. Finally, to complete the parallelism,
just as the first section terminates after threading the famous
Turkoman passes, so does the second conduct us, on the penulti
mate day’s journey, through the even more famous Caspian Gates
that lead into the Plain of Veramin. Stones, sand, kavir, and
execrable horses are the common prerogatives of both.
It was on one of the worst of these brutes that, over a track
scarcely less atrocious, I pursued my way to Deh Mullah ( c the Village
Deserted Priest’). The chapar-khaneli is on the outskirts of
eittes ppg village, which lies a little farther in the plain, and is
remarkable only for a huge mound of clay, once crowned by a
citadel, whose riven and crumbling walls stand up in melancholy
ruin. The ride from Deh Mullah to Damghan is over rather better
ground, but is unutterably tedious. On my right hand was the
scarped red rampart of the Elburz, rising sheer from the plain, and,
like a wall of brass, shutting off the defiles and gorges of that
mighty range; and behind them, again, the steamy lowlands of
Mazanderan, sloping to the Caspian. On the left, or south, whereas
on most maps I see marked a salt desert, or ~kavir, my own notes
record that, throughout the entire day’s journey, the horizon was
bounded on that side, at an average distance of about ten miles, by
a range of hills of quite sufficient elevation to appear upon most
maps, although I cannot find any trace of them upon the major
ity of those that I have studied. The road to Damghan passed
several villages, one of which, Mehmandost, was evidently a favourite
halting-place for travellers, as there were crowds of wayfarers and
horsemen in the single street. About three miles from Damghan
About this item
- Content
These two volumes are George Curzon's own personal annotated copies of both volumes of his book Persia and the Persian Question , which was published in 1892. Alongside the volumes are various loose papers relating to Persia [Iran], consisting of the following: received correspondence; newspaper cuttings; publishers' press releases; cuttings from various booksellers' catalogues; various journal and magazine articles; two items of printed official British correspondence; several prints of photographs and sketches; and a few handwritten notes by Curzon.
In most cases these papers, which range in date from 1892 to 1924, relate to the chapters in the book where they were originally inserted, suggesting that they were kept by Curzon with the intention of using them to inform a revised edition of the book.
Of particular note among the small amount of correspondence are two letters received by Curzon in 1914 and 1915 from retired schoolmaster and Islamic scholar Sayyid Mazhar Hasan Musawi of Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India (ff 5-9 and ff 44-53). These letters, which are written in Urdu and are accompanied by English translations, discuss in detail several inaccuracies found in the Urdu version of Persia and the Persian Question .
The various prints of photographs and sketches, which were originally inserted into volume two, are of different locations in the Gulf region. Several of these appear to have been produced in preparation for the publication of the second volume of John Gordon Lorimer's Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf The historical term used to describe the body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and Iran. , Oman and Central Arabia (i.e. the 'Geographical and Statistical' section) in 1908, as they are identical to the versions found in that volume.
Also of note among the loose papers are an illustrated article from Country Life dated 5 June 1920, entitled 'The People of Persia' (ff 36-37), and a printed family tree of the Shah of Persia [Aḥmad Shah Qājār], produced in preparation of his visit to Britain in 1919 (f 233).
Volume one of Persia and the Persian Question contains a map of Persia, Afghanistan and Beluchistan [Balochistan], which is folded inside the front cover (f 1).
The German language material consists of a publisher's press release for two books authored by German archaeologist Ernst Emil Herzfeld (ff 29-30).
- Extent and format
- 2 volumes with inserts (898 folios)
- Physical characteristics
Foliation: this shelfmark consists of two physical volumes. The foliation sequence commences at the first folio of volume one (1-463), and terminates at the last folio of volume two (ff 464-898); these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto The front of a sheet of paper or leaf, often abbreviated to 'r'. side of each folio. Each volume contains a large number of loose leaves, which have been foliated in the order that they were inserted into the volume; for conservation reasons, these loose folios have been removed from the volume and stored separately. The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers of the two volumes.
Pagination: the file also contains an original printed pagination sequence.
- Written in
- English, Urdu and German in Latin and Arabic script View the complete information for this record
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Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Question by George Curzon, with Inserted Papers [239r] (480/1814), British Library: India Office Records and Private Papers, Mss Eur F111/33, in Qatar Digital Library <https://www.qdl.qa/archive/81055/vdc_100157213844.0x000057> [accessed 2 April 2025]
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- Reference
- Mss Eur F111/33
- Title
- Annotated Copy of Persia and the Persian Questionby George Curzon, with Inserted Papers
- Pages
- 54r:135v, 147r:149v, 158r:180v, 183r:221v, 224r:224v, 227r:246v, 248r:257v, 259r:260v, 268r:362v, 364r:364v, 367r:388v, 390r:400v, 402r:416v, 419r:432v, 434r:444v, 448r:462v, 464r:471v, 475r:481v, 483r:513v, 516r:525v, 527r:544v, 546r:563v, 566r:598v, 600r:622v, 624r:656v, 658r:665v, 667r:675v, 678r:684v, 687r:688v, 691r:691v, 693r:693v, 695r:708v, 711r:721v, 724r:726v, 728r:729v, 731r:736v, 742r:742v, 746r:757v, 759r:761v, 763r:763v, 765r:765v, 772r:777v, 780r:789v, 793r:794v, 797r:809v, 811r:821v, 825r:840v, 843r:898v
- Author
- Curzon, George Nathaniel, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston
- Usage terms
- Public Domain